~ …give that you may live, for to withhold is to perish. (Adapted from Kahlil Gibran)

Category Archives: Chromebook

On January 24, 2017, Google announced some powerful enhancements for Chromebooks available for education, both for educators and students. These features (available in devices from Acer, Asus, HP, Dell, Lenovo, and Samsung) enhance the Chromebook’s versatility. With more than 20 million teachers and students employing Chromebooks, both will soon have access to devices that rely on “apps, stylus, and increased touch capabilities,” as well as USB-C charging (source).

Note: This blog entry originally published by TCEA TechNotes blog. Read other awesome blog entries by the TCEA team online at www.tcea.org/blog

For Teachers

For teachers, Chromebooks will come with world-facing cameras. This enables teachers, as well as students, to capture videos and photos from all directions. Teachers will also have access to many Android apps, as well as specially designed cloud apps. These include Adobe Creative Cloud apps (such as Photoshop Mix, Lightroom Mobile, Illustrator Draw, Photoshop Sketch, Adobe Comp CC, and Creative Cloud Mobile). Teachers will be able to combine these intelligent enhancements with Chromebooks. They can use just-announced Google Classroom notifications for better assignment management and tracking with the new models.

Chromebooks for Students

Students, in addition to a greater variety of bundled Android apps, will be able to enjoy access to creative applications:

Even more exciting, especially in math and other classes where drawing is involved, students are able to take advantage of the inexpensive, high-quality stylus. This is an advantage when using the Google Classroom Android app. Styluses can be shared or easily replaced if lost since they do not require charging or pairing with a Chromebook.

Thanks to Google for continually listening to educators about the needs of the Chromebook-powered classroom!

Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

I had a lot of fun making these flyers using Powerpoint. It was the first time I’d ever used Powerpoint to create flyers, believe it or not!

Note: These were published as a series of blog entries at TCEA.org Technotes Blog! TCEA.org is a non-profit education organization. Check it out at http://www.tcea.org/blog. In the interests of full disclosure, Miguel Guhlin serves as a Director of Professional Development; find out more about his work at http://ly.tcea.org/connect.

While some report that 3D printing isn’t a thing anymore, it remains one of the top tech trends for the foreseeable future. That may be because 3D printers are finding their way into classrooms and homes with startling alacrity. This blog entry shares a few choices for printers, design tools, and sources, as well as mobile device apps.

3D Printers for Home

Wondering what printers you can get for your home? Consider these three offerings, ranging from least expensive to most expensive. The Dremel IdeaBuilder packs a punch to your wallet, but offers the most flexibility and versatility in its options. The Mod T also has adherents who praise its small size as perfect for your office desk. Whether you’re looking for a home printer, or considering a small 3D printer for the classroom, there’s something available to match your budget.

Looking for 3D Printing Designs and Tools?

Look no further than Thingiverse and 3D Warehouse! They have literally thousands of designs already created and ready to modify or use as is. And if you want to design your own, consider these two programs for use on your device of choice:

SketchUp Pro – This $695 program for Mac and Windows computers is available at NO CHARGE to K-12 public schools! Click the link to find out more about TCEA’s offer.

My SketchUp – This browser-based version works great on Chromebooks and is available at no charge.

3D Printable Ornaments

Never worry about breaking glass ornaments again with 3D filament-based tree decorations. These curios are easy to design, modify, and print for home and office. More importantly, they make it easy to print take-home designs for students.

Free Office 365 Account: Students and teachers get the online versions of Office plus 1TB online storage for free! Get it at http://office.com/teachers

Office Mix: You can add Office Mix to Powerpoint 2016 to create screencasts, video, narrated slide shows, and more! Get it at http://mix.office.com

Office Lens: Get this document scanner and whiteboard capture tool! You can save to PDF, Mail, Photo Library, as well as Immersive Reader, OneNote, and Office apps. Get it via your mobile device in the iOS App store, Google Play Store, or Windows Store.

OneNote: A fantastic app for keeping track of every day notes, collaborative lesson planning, and online notebooks. Add OneNote 2016 and Immersive Reader to reach various populations of students! Get it at http://onenote.com

Sway: A joy to use, Microsoft Sway presents an alternative presentation and storytelling tool. Use any mobile device to create web-friendly, simple yet powerful content for others. Get started at http://sway.com

Touch Develop: Combined with the Creative Coding through Games and Apps (CCGA) curriculum, create engaging apps that work on any device. Get started at http://ly.tcea.org/ccga

“Figure out which toys your friends can play with,” I remember my Mom saying to me before a sleepover with classmates. “And put the ones you don’t want to see damaged, lost, or stolen away.” It’s advice that I took to heart and shared with my own children before they had friends over. Here’s some advice you may want to consider before deploying Chromebooks in schools…or, consider leaving your “best practices” in the comments.

Best Practice #1 – Establish procedures before issuing Chromebooks.

Setting ground rules can certainly help you avoid trouble and heartache down the line. The advice is definitely worth taking when it comes to inviting students and staff to use any kind of device, even durable Chromebooks, in your classroom, library, or school. TCEA member Erin Laughlin (@MrsErinLaughlin) recommends that you consider your responses to questions like the ones below:

How will students be issued Chromebooks?

How should students be advised to transport Chromebooks?

What happens when there is a substitute teacher in the room? Will students be permitted to take advantage of the Chromebook?

What should be done when a Chromebook suffers damage?

In response to the last question, one teacher in Fairfield ISD during their Eagle Leadership Academy,pointed out that damage had occurred to a school-owned Chromebook issued to a student. “What did you do?” I asked, wondering if the student was to be forced to reimburse the district or forced to replace the device. “We made sure it wasn’t malicious and then just worked to get it fixed or replaced. No action was taken since this was an accident.” Erin also suggests having rules like these in place:

No food or drinks should be in sight when Chromebooks are out.

Carry Chromebooks with two hands at all times.

Do not get a Chromebook if teacher is out of the room.

Nothing should be on the desk except the Chromebook unless told otherwise.

Students should only be on websites assigned or approved by teacher.

Have students and parents sign a statement saying they will abide by the rules.

Have reasonable consequences for students who aren’t following the rules (taking away the Chromebook should be your last resort).

As you might imagine, some common-sense suggestions include assigning a student to be in charge of the Chromebooks, ensuring monitoring of issuance and receipt of devices by class members. Also, consider including a Google Form to let students report how a Chromebook was damaged. Another point to consider is to be sure to label your class Chromebooks so they will be easy to locate in case they leave your classroom. Finally, Kim from Fairfield ISD suggests that the teacher and students get in the habit of plugging in Chromebooks correctly so they are charged for the next group.

“You can’t issue students devices until they’ve had digital citizenship lessons required by eRate.” And, of course, digital citizenship lessons also ensure that you can discuss important issues about caring for other people’s equipment. In my experience, students often take great care of equipment issued to them when there is a culture of care cultivated in the school as a whole. Keys aren’t ripped off keyboards in classrooms where the teacher makes every effort to care for his/her technology and assigns students the jobs of cable management, removing dust from devices, and cleaning keyboards/screens. Yet every device brings its own challenges, and Chromebooks are no different. Providing an overview of Chromebook and Google Apps tips ensure that students feel confident in using new technologies, rather than frustrated.

Best Practice #3 – Promote collaboration.

“My two favorite tools for a 1-to-1 classroom,” I shared at the recent Tots and Technology Conferences that took place in Galveston and Frisco this past summer, “include Nearpod.com and Seesaw.com.” Each of these provides critical tools that you need as a teacher to share your screen and presentations with students, as well as collect their work. Nearpod serves as a presentation and eyeball management tool for you, pushing your screen out to all student Chromebooks. Seesaw serves as a digital portfolio that collects students’ digital and physical work in one virtual space that is easily shared but manageable.

Let’s quickly explore some other top tips for promoting collaboration:

Quiz tools: Other ways to engage students include quizzing tools like Quizizz.com and Kahoot.com. Quizizz allows students to login with their Google account, and all completed assignments are reported and available in Google Classroom.

Easy video assessment: Use tools like EdPuzzle and/or FlipGrid to take already existing videos from YouTube, Khan Academy, etc. or put your own online, then add your voice and questions to create an interactive video lesson. You’ll be able to see how many times your students watch your interactive video lessons, how many times they attempt a question, and the responses given.

Use Google Classroom to create a virtual classroom presence for students, blending in Google Calendar and YouTube videos to facilitate online learning.

Use badges in your classroom: TCEA member Joe Camacho (@CamachoEdTech) recommends setting up and issuing badges to celebrate student learning and sharing. Students can learn Google Apps tools such as Sites, Classroom, Forms, Docs, Drawings, and Slides, as well as other tools in use like DocHub, Flubaroo, Edpuzzle, Kahoot, Quizizz, creating screencasts, and Padlet.

Another neat tip for promoting collaboration and sharing comes from Erin Laughlin again. She suggests creating a “shark tank” in your classroom, having older students create products that are evaluated by younger students serving as “the sharks.” Older students pitch their solution to a problem using Google Hangouts, bridging the distance between their classroom at one campus and another. Of course, this activity can also be done at even greater distances. If that is of interest, consider the Connecting for a Cause website, where students create a Google Sites web presence that represents their cause.

Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

Ever had to do any audio editing on a Chromebook? I have, and the only client out there that worked well (like Audacity) costs TOO MUCH money. I won’t even mention the client since it is darn expensive and I have no doubt that many folks paid a lot for it…just a twisted pricing model!

Ok, that aside, what if you could edit audio files on a Chromebook at low-cost, or even better, no cost if you’re a school district or educational institution? What about if that solution could save straight to GoogleDrive? Interested?

If you’re looking for something like that, then be sure to check out the Beautiful Audio Editor–which allows you to export MP3 audio for one-time fee of $3.18 (pay attention, ONE time fee). Earlier today, I recorded audio from a presentation at TCEA TECSIG–with the presenters’ support and permission–on my iPhone using Voice Record Pro, but didn’t have an easy way to make some edits to the file (ok, Voice Record Pro has built-in audio editing but I didn’t want to try to do it on my iPhone with Voice Record Pro or Hokusai).

Problem: How to edit pre-recorded audio on my Chromebook?

Note: This process ultimately failed with a 51 minute file but I retain high hopes for Beautiful Audio Editor. Step 3 is where it all went wrong!! Again, I think it’s the SIZE of the audio file. I was successful with smaller audio files.

STEP 1 – ACCESS MY AUDIO FILE VIA WIFI DRIVEThe first step was to flip Voice Record Pro into a WiFi drive–which is a way to transfer files over wireless connection–so I could access the audio off my phone via my Chromebook:

Add caption

Before exporting the recorded file from Voice Record Pro, I converted it to MP3…a nice feature in Voice Record Pro! After doing this, I saved the file to my Chromebook.

Once that was done, I was able to listen to the audio and make adjustments (edit/cut) content, not unlike Audacity on a desktop/laptop computer.

Note that I did pay $3.18 to get the MP3 export feature, but it looks like WAV export format is available at no cost…and you could just convert that WAV file with web-based tools like Media.io or Online-Convert.com.STEP 3 – SAVE EDITED AUDIO FILEAs you might imagine, I had high hopes that I would be able to save my 51 minute audio recording of collegial coaching presentation, but alas, it was not meant to be. This process DID work with smaller files, though.Problems Encountered While SavingOf course, I had hoped this solution would work perfectly. It did not FOR LARGE AUDIO files, but it did for short stuff (which may make it appropriate for Chromebook Education users!). As you can see, I was instructed to download the audioproject file but was unable to do so successfully, receiving the error Failed-No File.

CollegialCoaching_edited_mguhlin.audioprojectThe server could not find the file.

I next tried to save the edited audio file using WAV, MP3 or SAVE TO GOOGLEDRIVE options…notice what happens:

One second, the .WAV button appears, but the next (after clicking it), the button disappears!

Hmm…the same thing happened with the MP3 file, too.

So, SAVE to Google Drive failed as well. This left me with 51 minute audio-edited file with no way to save it!! As you can see, file generated is zero bytes long…so, no data.

I’m looking forward to the Beautiful Audio Editor folks fixing this!

Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

“You know,” shared a colleague going to Gabon, “I love Chromebook! I probably would have gotten a Chromebook if I could Skype on it! But I did get a good deal on my under $700 Lenovo laptop!” Ah, what a difference a few months makes.

Now, Skype works on Chromebooks! Using an Acer C720 Chromebook, I was able to easily follow the instructions outlined in this MakeUseOf.com article entitled, How to Install Skype on a Chromebook. (lots of screenshots there!).

The steps are fairly straightforward, but, of course, what follows are my notes:

1) Check to see if you’re running a 32bit or 64bit. To do that, just go to your Chrome settings and click About. You’ll be able to see fairly quickly…

Earlier today, I had the opportunity to see what Temple ISD was doing in regards to the 9th Grade Chromebook initiative, a 1 to 1 program. Aside from a snazzy slideshow (nice job!), they had some core beliefs that jumped out at me:

“Students who do not have technology outside of school are at an academic disadvantage”

We believe that putting a Chromebook in the hands of every HS student will have a substantial impact.

Having technology at home extends the learning environment beyond the walls of the classroom.

We’re just launching Whiteout Mail, an integrated solution for adding end-to-end encryption to your existing email address. Think of it as Thunderbird+Enigmail+GPGTools, all integrated, easy to use, and running in the browser and on your mobile devices. Installed in six minutes or less. Open source and free. So that more people can start encrypting their important messages.

This integrated encrypted email solution makes encryption your email communications fairly easy. It currently works on some popular platforms and more are coming:

As you can see from the image above, iOS, Windows and Firefox OS are not yet supported…and it doesn’t seem to work in Firefox browser. Still, if you’re a Google Chrome browser user, this will work fine both as an app or in your Google Chrome web browser!

You can use an existing PGP private key, or create a new one. In the future, you will be able to load PGP keys from your computer’s clipboard (coming soon in a future release!)!

The problem I ran into using a text file was that my PGP key lacked a “asc” filename extension.

UPDATE: As of 02/03/2015, the “.asc” filename extension requirement has been removed! Yay!

However, you can take your text file your PGP private keys and then change the filename extension (e.g. mykeys.asc). Or, once you create a new set of PGP keys, you can export your keypair via Whiteout.io

If you export your keypair–which you’ll want to save in a safe place, probably encrypted in a Veracrypt drive or at least protected by ParanoiaWorks SSE encryption tool–you can share the public key with others so they can send you encrypted email:

As we are based on the OpenPGP standard we protect your message content but not its metadata and we do not provide anonymity. Sender, recipient, subject and date are transmitted via standard SMTP in the clear. You may want to keep that in mind when deciding if and when to use our app.

So, this presents a problem. That’s why other solutions like Tutanota.de and ProtonMail.ch are worthwhile alternatives, providing encryption. You can see email below:

Here’s an encrypted email in Gmail…but if you look at it in Whiteout, the message simply appears after you login:

Some of their features:

Whiteout Mail can be used with your existing email provider over IMAP. Also, coming soon, with an encrypted mailbox hosted by us, offering seamless integration with the app.

End-to-end encryption and private/public key management is implemented via the OpenPGP protocol. Our source code is published and open for inspection.

Your message is en­cryp­ted on the client and will never be transmitted or stored in the clear.

One question came to mind:

Is Mailvelope easier to use? Not surprisingly, I was able to import–copy-n-paste or exported keypair file–my Whiteout generated PGP public/private keys into Mailvelope, and decrypt Oliver’s encrypted email to me from within Gmail. So, yes, this is quite easy and less trouble. Benefit of Whiteoutio is that I didn’t have to consciously worry about it…I just did it by sending a secure email.

KEY MANAGEMENT

One of the questions I had was about key management. Essentially, will Whiteout.io handle key management for users? This may be the biggest draw for folks who are looking for an easy way to handle things, and not mess with keys. With tools like Mailvelope, etc., you have to manage public keys from folks “out there.” This can be a real hassle.

This is why we, as a service provider for encrypted email, believe that one major way we can provide value to users is key management. Not only does Whiteout Mail automate public key discovery when typing in a recipient’s email address, we also want to make private key management so easy that it becomes basically invisible to users (unless users explicitly want to dig deeper, of course).

I would love to read more about this. Key management is a big time-saver, especially if it syncs up to some public key server somewhere. I’m still not sure how to add public keys from friends I find online who may haven’t synced things up to a key server, but that would be interesting to see/try.

Thanks to Oliver for the heads-up about this exciting new email encryption tool, Whiteout.io!!

Whew, thanks to all of you who wrote in yesterday about my Istation and Chromebooks post yesterday! This is quite a big thing for Texas school districts relying on TexasSuccess.org, which includes Istation as a reading intervention and diagnostic tool, as well as Think Through Math.

A colleague in Texas shared the following ideas and problem:

We’ve been testing it out. The deployment works from the dashboard, but the first time the app runs it asks for the domain and the peering groups. Support told us there is no way to preconfigure this as part of the deployment, and that the peering groups don’t work on the chromebooks yet.

So we are making some materials to help teachers know how to select the correct domain. The other question I’m waiting on an answer from support is how to change the domain if they accidentally input the wrong one. Once you enter it, that prompt goes away on future logins. But I think every user will have to input that domain info the very first time they launch the app.

In terms of the use of the app – it seems to have all the components of the client and looks just like it. We are noticing that it takes longer to open than it does on the desktop clients. It does seem to individually cache content as you open each book or resource for the first time. But we are curious how the bandwidth hit is going to look when we get whole schools online. We are going to start with a couple of classrooms and monitor their bandwidth usage and the scale up from there.

One response to the highlighted interrogatory, How does one change the domain if they accidentally input the wrong one?, was provided by other Texas Technology Coordinators in TCEA’s TEC-SIG email group:

In August last year Gartner forecast that Chromebook sales would reach 5.2 million units in 2014, a 79 percent increase from 2013, and that by 2017 sales would grow to 14.4 million units. (Source:ZDnet)

Before we get to the two announcements, you may want to review these neat links:

Google Chromebook Comparison Chart – A nifty chart that tops the one I shared earlier in 2014. I have no idea how this is being done with GoogleForms and Sheets, but it’s inspirational. 🙂

Ok, on to the two exciting announcements out that expand support for Chromebook, especially in school settings:

1) Istation app for Chromebook is now out!After waiting, what seems forever, schools can now rely on Chromebooks for Istation, a key component of the TexasSuccess.org initiative. In addition to testing the app on my Chromebook, I also tested it on my UbuntuLinux machine and it appeared to work well! So, this opens up some possibilities for GNU/Linux machines.

Note: Thanks to feedback from colleague Marguerite Lowak, it appears that as of 10:49am on 1/28/15, the app was not available to GoogleAdmins. In her phone conversation with them, they reported they would be making the app available in the Google Panel by end of day 1/28 or by morning of 1/29/2015.

Please be aware of this press release–which includes the link to the Chromebook app–for the Istation app for Chromebooks (but it also works on regular computers running Chrome (it appears to work on GNU/Linux computers, too!)):

UPDATE 01/29/2015:Think Through Math in paragraph below… Please note that I included Think Through Math in the paragraph below, but I should have left it out! I do reflect TTM compatibility in the Chromebook Compatibility Chart, and can’t think why I said it wasn’t! My thanks to readers who pointed it out. Both TexasSuccess.org programs–Istation and ThinkThroughMath–now work on Chromebooks!

Now, if only Think Through Math, Pearson’s TestNAV could also be allowed to work on Chromebooks in Texas, Google’s domination of the tool of choice in schools would be complete. Many school districts are making the transition in their 1 to 1 programs from iPads to Chromebooks, a fact reflected in Chromebook sales (uh, wait, where’s my supporting links?).

The new Chromebook app means Istation curriculum is accessible in more places than ever!FREE for registered users, the Chromebook app supports all Istation content and products, meaning schools have access to Istation Reading, IstationReading en Español, Istation Home, Istation Math, and thousands of teacher resources.

Dell has announced an upgrade to its Kace 1000 Systems Management Appliance, version 6.3 delivering “first-to-market systems management support of Chromebook”, along with agentless inventory of Windows servers plus agentless discovery and asset management of connected non-PC devices such as printers and projectors.

It’s hard to imagine how else Chromebooks could be made easier to manage, but according to the article linked above, the following is true:

With the version 6.3 software, the K1000 will extract Chromebook data that’s currently made available by Google (see screenshot above), allowing the appliance to perform day-to-day management tasks like hardware inventory, reporting and service desk functions.

If you’re a leader and/or manager–gee, go have that debate somewhere else–you may encounter many of the challenges I do. The more I learn about leading, the more I enjoy being a manager. Some of the tools I use that enhance my ability to manage include the following:

MXHero for Chrome – As an admin in schools, I hate sending emails then wondering if people have actually read them, much less opened them. That’s where MXHero comes in. It makes it possible for you to know when someone is reading your email, as well as clicking links and opening attachments to that email.

MicNote – In meetings a lot? So am I. Record those using MicNote, an inexpensive note-taking and recording tool that syncs those up for you, then lets you save it all to GoogleDrive or Dropbox.

Evernote Clipper – As an avid Evernote user, the Clipper makes it easy for me to quickly save content I run across on the web, as well as emails, anything and put it into Evernote, my organization tool.

I have some digital video files in MP4, AVI, MKV formats on my computer in my upstairs office. I want to watch them on my HDMI capable television without hooking the computer up directly to my television using my home wireless network and a Chromecast–which I bought this holiday. How do I do that?

Response:As I considered this question, I realized that I’d done practically no research on this prior to purchasing the Chromecast device! As such, it was a fun learning experience. Although “casting” video using Chromecast is pretty easy, various video formats I have available resulted in a few wrinkles that forced me to dig deeper. I found this tips and tricks video about Chromecast to be pretty straightforward….BTW, here’s another video that provides some intro background on the Chromecast (as well as this Top 5 Ways to Use Chromecast) if you’re familiar with it.VIDEO FORMATSAlthough your Chrome browser has support for some video/audio formats–such as .3gp, .avi, .mov, .mp4, .m4v, .m4a, .mp3, .mkv, .ogv, .ogm, .ogg, .oga, .webm, .wav–it doesn’t support others like some AVI videos and MKV.A quick note about video formats that were encountered:

Audio Video Interleave – The filename extension for this format is AVI. This video format was developed by Microsoft and I occasionally run into some of my old files that are in this format. Although Chromebooks support this video file type, my LubuntuLinux computer running Chrome did not play AVIs in browser.

Matroska – The filename extension for this format is MKV. It’s a popular, open source video format that I’ve encountered a few times when working with others.

MP4– The filename extension is MP4 and is quite popular. In fact, I try to convert everything I have into this format because it’s so web-friendly and cross-platform.

The main wrinkle I ran into is that while the Chrome browser will support MP4 video format, it does NOT natively support Matroska (MKV) and AVI formatted files I had. That is, I can drag an MP4 file into the browser window and it will auto-play…but not MKV and AVI; it will just try to save a copy to my Downloads folder. So a follow-up question is, how do you play those video formats via your Chrome browser so that you can “cast” it via your Chromecast to a television?Here are some of the add-ons or extensions I ended up using to get everything working fine:Essential Tools:

Google Cast extension – “The Google Cast extension enables you to find and play content on your Chromecast device from your Chrome browser. When on Cast optimized sites like YouTube and Netflix, you’ll see new options that let you play video on your TV via Chromecast – using your computer as a remote to browse for videos and to control playback. You can also cast any of your tabs in Chrome to your TV, letting you enjoy sites, photos, or even video from the best screen in your home.”

Some nice to have tools that I reference in this blog post:

Videostream for Chromecast– “Play your own local videos on your Chromecast from your PC – Subtitles supported!” This allows you to play weird video formats not necessarily supported by a Chrome browser such as MKV and AVI. Videostream also supports MP4, though.

H.265/HEVC player – “H.265 / HEVC player” is a standalone video player using libde265 to playback H.265 / HEVC content. It currently supports Matroska video files with common audio codecs.” I found this capable of playing AVI, MKV, and MP4 video formats, although for MP4, Chrome browser has built-in support. Problem is that it “pops” out a window so you can Chromecast it unless you cast the whole desktop (as opposed to Chromecast a browser tab). Still, great for local playback on a Chromebook of out of the ordinary video formats.

Chrome Remote Desktop – “Chrome Remote Desktop allows users to remotely access another computer through Chrome browser or a Chromebook. Computers can be made available on an short-term basis for scenarios such as ad hoc remote support, or on a more long-term basis for remote access to your applications and files. All connections are fully secured.”

The Videostream app is free, but there’s also premium plan with additional features like creating playlists for videos, beta features, premium support, and a completely ad-free environment. Premium plans start at US $1.49 monthly, $14.99 per year, or $34.99 for life.If you want to use Chromecast as your main streaming device for your video collection, then I think playlists alone make the premium plan worth the price of admission. With it you can reorder your shows, skip files, or entirely delete them from the list.

I was able to navigate to videos saved on my machine using this tip:

Simply enter “file:///” (Mac/Linux) or “file:///c:/” (PC) in the address bar, find a piece of media and you can tabcast it to your Chromecast. via Chromecast Tips and Tweaks

Since I was using the free version, I chose to load new videos using Chrome Remote Desktop, which allowed me to remote-control my upstairs computer with the videos using a Chromebook. While that was fun, I decided that going up and down the stairs to start the next movie might assuage my guilt at being a couch potato.😉Oh, you could use a Plex Video Server (free, awesome) solution but I decided not to do that in this situation. 😉For bonus, here are some additional problems and solutions you can try that I ran into while reading/watching videos about Chromecasts.ISSUE #1 – DEALING WITH NON-HDMI TELEVISIONBy the way, if you’re like me, you’re probably stuck dealing with an old television without HDMI support. Sigh. You may want to take advantage of the wisdom in this YouTube video that walks you through how to convert your HDMI signal to S-Video, which will work on older televisions. I’m considering whether I want to do this or just “junk” my old televisions that are VERY old. In the meantime, this advice is golden:

ISSUE #2 – DEALING WITH LOCKED DOWN NETWORKSIn a school district, workplace, or hotel, you’ll encounter the issue of not being able to authenticate your Chromecast. I’ve had this request and, unfortunately, things just didn’t work well. How to bypass that? Here’s one approach that will certainly get you in trouble in a work environment with the network services folks (buy hey, why not?).

You can read about this problem in this HowToGeek article…here’s an excerpt from their article (the whole thing is worth reading!):

…you can bridge the Wi-Fi gap on your own terms by using a travel router. All you need is a compact travel router like the HooToo Tripmate (read review), an Ethernet cable, and you’re ready to rock.

Just plug in the portable router to the Ethernet jack in your room, fire up the router, and connect to the router with your smartphone, tablet, or computer to configure the Chromecast just like you would at home.

Pretty neat idea! I’ll have to try this somewhere…hmm.😉ISSUE #3 – How to Stream from Mobile DeviceI found information about these apps to be helpful…

Next week, we’ll be giving out laptops–considered obsolete in school settings, but that work fine with a copy of LubuntuLinux running on them–to students. After giving a quick tour of Lubuntu on the laptops, I suddenly had 6 “how to” videos to create. Of course, I could have made the videos on a Lubuntu laptop but I wondered, What if you installed Lubuntu on your Chromebook, then made the videos there? Could I use something like Screencastify (which has “picture in a picture,” BTW) to get the job done?

Naturally, the question going around in my head required some fun experimentation. As you might guess from the picture below, yes, it worked.

Running LXDE on an Acer C720 Chromebook

Although I’ve loaded GNU/Linux on a Chromebook twice before, I have to admit that this was the easiest and most pain-free. That is due in large part to the instructions provided online here, and which I’ve customized below (these are my scratch notes)…the customization involves LXDE in lieu of KDE or XFCE (neither of which I like much) AND loading the right audio drivers to ensure I can record.

Some of the advantages of Crouton are that unlike other methods, you don’t have to reboot your machine to switch operating systems; you can switch between them using keyboard shortcuts as if you are switching between two apps.

Here are the relevant excerpts that I followed…again, you may want to read the whole thing. These are just my notes should I have to go through this again.Part 1 – Install Ubuntu with LXDE GUI interface on Chromebook with Crouton

1. “Install Chromebook recovery utility from the Chrome web store. Open the app and follow the instructions to create a recovery drive.” This is an important step in case you mess it all up.2. Enable the developer mode by holding Esc + Refresh keys and then push the ‘power’ button. The recovery screen will show a scary warning. Just ignore it and let Chrome OS wipe your data. The process can take up to 15 minutes, so don’t turn off your Chromebook.

This process will take about 15-20 minutes depending on the speed of your Internet connection.

7 – Type sudo startlxdeThis will start LXDE GUI interface to Linux.

8 – Update Your Linux installation. At the command line (Go to the START button in the bottom left-hand corner, then Accessories, then LXTerminal), type the following, pressing ENTER after each command:

Of course, you don’t have to install these programs at all. I usually also install Google Chrome browser, and Dropbox.

Part 2 – Setup AudioOne of the things I noticed when I installed Screencastify in GoogleChrome on Linux on Chromebook was that the microphone wasn’t detected. To get it working, I followed these steps at the Terminal (LXTerminal):

That’s pretty much it! Now I have a Chromebook that can switch to LXDE (LubuntuLinux) for audio editing when I need it using Audacity, as well as access my Keepass password file. And, I can record the video tutorials for getting around in LXDE! The video quality–and sound–is actually better than doing the recording on my Macbook Air…still haven’t figured that one out!

Welcome! Want to do some screencasting for flipped classroom or video tutorials on your Chromebook? Then you’ve come to the right place. The following are screencasting/webcam recording apps worth checking out.

It was only yesterday that a colleague asked, “How do you record video on the Chromebook?” While I have always tested video recording with WeVideo, I found myself looking for an app that would record video locally. . .I just hadn’t made the time to search.

Thank goodness for my Twitter PLN! Where else can you ask a question and get responses back in a short time period?

Fortunately, since Chromebooks are smashing the Education Market in the U.S.A., LOTS of folks are asking great questions, sharing them via Twitter.

As of the third quarter of 2014, Chromebooks have displaced iPads as the most popular new devices shipping to U.S. schools. This is a huge win for Google in a market historically dominated by Apple and Microsoft. According to the Financial Times and IDC, “Google shipped 715,500 of the low-cost laptops into US schools in the third quarter, compared with 702,000 iPads.” Even more striking, the $199 and up Chromebooks have gone from zero to a quarter of the educational market in only two years…While Apple has been pumping iPads into schools, Google has gotten many of the same schools hooked on its free Google Apps for Education Suite.

TIP – Quick Chrome App Management: Before we get started adding a whole bunch of extensions/apps to your Chromebook, you might want to first install Simple Extension Manager…that way, you can easily manage/disable extensions or apps you don’t want instead of digging around the innards of Chrome browser tools.

Some solutions for the webcam recording app question that involves saving directly to your Chromebook:

My Pick: Screencastify– This remains an easy choice to depend on and I keep coming back to it, even after having tried all the rest. It features picture in a picture as well.

ClipChamp – This was an easy to use webcam capture tool. Read this great blog entry that walks you through the whole process of using ClipChamp…at the end of the process, you end up with these options shown right. As you can see, the video you get is an MP4 that is viewable and sharable on most devices and web sites.

MediaCore Capture – I really liked MediaCore Capture…it recorded not only my screen, but also included a video feed of me in the bottom right hand-corner! The only fly in the ointment is that the video format it creates is webm (a.k.a. HTML5 video), which you would have to convert–maybe use Zamzar.com WebM to MP4–before uploading to a video sharing site. I can really see using MediaCore Capture as a screencasting alternative to Screencastify and TechSmith’s Snagit app and extension combo, which (as far I know) only offers screencasting.

Final Selection: What’s my recommendation? Of these tools, I’d have to go with Screencastify. I know how to convert WebM to MP4, so that wouldn’t be an impediment for me. I also like the fact I can record the presenter in the bottom right-hand corner. That’s not to say I would cast away other tools like ClipChamp and TechSmith (since it offers image capture and other features) but for quick recommendations, Screencastify is my favorite.

And, while I have used WeVideo to “test out” webcam recording, it’s probably “too much” since I have little interest in video editing for most projects…my work is often done in “1-take.”

In previous blog entries, I’ve shared how much I appreciate the wonderful work the free, open source password protection/tracking solution community has done for Keepass. I literally work on Android, GNU/Linux, iOS, and Mac every day (occasionally Windows), and being able to access my passwords across all those platforms is a fantastic!

Unfortunately, I was finding myself spending a lot of time on a Chromebook, so I needed a quick way to access my passwords via the Chromebook. Since you can’t install Windows/Mac/Linux software on a Chromebook–I’ve installed GNU/Linux OS on Chromebook, but switched back to ChromeOS–I needed something to interface with Keepass.

The solution I ran across is “BrowsePass,” which was developed in 2013 and is still under development. You can install it in any Chrome browser, but it also works fine on Chromebooks (get it as an add-on).

BrowsePass reads KeePass (http://keepass.info) password database file (only version 2). It can open both remote and local files. You’d use BrowsePass when you cannot install or download KeePass locally. BrowsePass runs entirely in your browser, no additional software is needed. BrowsePass DOES NOT support files created with KeePass version 1 (KDB files)!

“IT leaders can spend half a million dollars to buy and support 1,000 enterprise-owned tablets, while they can support 2,745 user-owned tablets with that same budget,” said Federica Troni, research director at Gartner. “Without a stipend, direct costs of user-owned tablets are 64 per cent lower. When organizations have several users who want a tablet as a device of convenience, offering a BYOD option is the best alternative to limit cost and broaden access.” Source:CBROnline

…a question popped into my mind. The question is, what’s the cost of going 1 to 1 in a local district given these numbers:

Staff: 1,233

Students: 9,820, which breaks out in this way:

PreK-3: 3,038

Grades 4-5: 1,457

Grades 6-8: 2,293

Grades 9-12: 3,032

Some “givens” we can work from:

100% wireless access everywhere in schools, so no infrastructure to go build up.

Staff and students can bring their own devices (e.g. tablets, smartphones, computers)

Sitting in a planning conversation with an instructional team–including Mary Ray (@mray29), one of the ideas that popped into my head as we were chatting was the idea of a diverse classroom with multiple devices in it.

Device smashing is the process of using multiple devices in conjunction with one another to complete a final task or project.

I’m going to reflect on this a bit more, but with cloud storage, I find myself jumping from one device to another to get the results I want. As more devices–especially in BYOT environments–are available to students, device smashing will certainly become more common.

Someone recently challenged the idea that iPads were better than Chromebooks. An enlightened Google-Certified-Teacher (not me) suggested the following perspective:

Wouldn’t laying out the benefits and limitations of each be more productive than determining a “winner”? The best device is subjective and determined by the user and the task.I am of the belief there is not one perfect tool. We chose to go 1:1 Chromebooks but support hundreds of iPads across our district. Source: Judith Epcke,GCT Email

We have to be careful what technology we champion in schools…it’s so easy to fall for the magic bullet approach. Of course, the iPad is a magic bullet to many of the problems schools face when they are looking for a device in the classroom. I love my iPad’s ability to interact with pictures, videos and combine them into one space (e.g. Keynote), then drop that content into anything else and publish it.

But, I also love the Chromebook my job allows me access to for writing and sharing ideas (BTW, seen Google’s revamped EDU site?) In fact, I no longer try to make the iPad into my go-to device 100% of the time for writing and sharing ideas. It mostly sits at home until I need it for a high-end job, like catching up on Netflix, preparing a video presentation, reading my favorite fiction. For the most part, I rely on my Chromebook for the work I’m required to do and that I like to do as a writer.

Schools tell us that Chromebooks fill three big needs: they’re easy for students and teachers to use, they’re easy to share, and they’re easy to manage. That’s critical for schools that often want to give their students the best technology, but don’t have a large IT department to support it. And it’s part of what has made Chromebooks such a hit in schools. In fact, according to IDC’s latest report on tablets and laptops in K-12 education, Chromebooks are the best-selling device in the U.S. this year. (Read More)

Chromebooks, iPads, Androids are easy for folks to use because you agree to live within the limits of the device. This is the perspective I have found most helpful when working with others. I imagine the conversation can work like this:

“Ok, I understand you need to do certain things. Here are the limits of what these devices can do, and, if you change how you do things a little, you can take advantage of this particular device. Will it work for you?”“Yeah, sure. I’ll give it a try. I’m not wedded to one way of doing things.”

For those folks that are, or imagine that one device can do everything (yes, I’m guilty as charged), then disappointment is sure to follow. These days, I feel pretty comfortable recommending a classroom have access to certain devices for some tasks, other devices for others…even though you can manage to be productive on either.

A recent diversity study pointed out that People working together can achieve more than they can alone; this is a fundamental principle upon which organizations are founded.

What if we changed that a bit and said:

Devices working together can achieve more than they can alone; this is a fundamental principle upon which BYOT is founded on.

Have you ever asked yourself, “Can I do that with this device?” It’s a lot of fun. For example, the iPad has become a bit of a boring tool for me, not because it’s hard to do things with it, but rather, because I feel like I’ve mapped out workflows for what I commonly do. Once you map out what you do normally, you start to ask yourself, “What else can I do?”

Some of the common tasks–and the quick solutions I use on each–I expect to be able to do include the following (I’ve indicated in parentheses the cost of each, if it’s not free):

Recording: MicNote (can record audio played aloud from Chromebook speakers…like AudioNote that allows you to take notes while you record! Free version records 2 mins but Pro version for $4.99 records for 2 hours with unlimited notes/recordings)

It’s pretty amazing when you consider what can be done on a Chromebook and how easy and flexible it is. What fun to revisit my favorite apps, as well as discover some on Chromebook or for Chrome browser, that can be used.

Of course, there are some places where the iPad wins…but in a classroom, you’re not likely to be in an either/or situation.

In a lunch conversation with a retired Air Force Colonel, we briefly exchanged stories about our reading preferences. While I have no problems reading fiction content in digital format, reading non-fiction is problem-rich:

I find I can’t remember key ideas, instead have to write them down or blog them to remember.

It’s difficult to highlight content and share it (unless I’m reading on Amazon Kindle, but even then, I don’t care for it since I end up re-formatting the content in Evernote).

Simply, the non-fiction info seems more…abstract.

The “concrete” or tactile experience of reading non-fiction is preferred. In the audio book arena, only non-fiction works for me. Somehow, I remember more when I hear non-fiction. With fiction, I want to see the words on the page, digital or print. Sure enough, the Colonel’s experience was the opposite of mind, reminding me that one-size-fits-all approaches to learning are problematic.

The haptic and tactile feedback of a Kindle does not provide the same support for mental reconstruction of a story as a print pocket book does’ … an ebook reader. A new study which found that readers using aKindlewere “significantly” worse than paperback readers at recalling when events occurred in a mystery story is part of major new Europe-wide research looking at the impact of digitisation on the reading experience.(Source:The Guardian)

What’s even more disturbing about digital textbooks is the following:

Mangen also pointed to a paper published last year, which gave 72 Norwegian 10th-graders texts to read in print, or in PDF on a computer screen, followed by comprehension tests. She and her fellow researchers found that “students who read texts in print scored significantly better on the reading comprehension test than students who read the texts digitally”. (Source:The Guardian)

So, forgive me when I see content like this, which offers unstinting, unexamined praise for the use of tablets in classrooms for digital textbook viewing:

With tablets, students can type queries into their digital books as the questions come to mind, then sift through the answers themselves. And there’s a whole lot less peer pressure involved in entering a query into a search form, so hesitant students are more apt to ask questions in the first place. Source:Digital Book World

Admittedly, many of us will have little choice about adopting digital textbooks in schools. Consider this excerpt:

Education companies and organizations are getting on board by leveraging the technology of tablets to bring digital textbooks and all-in-one, next generation curriculum products to the classroom… “Noting that annual textbook costs for U.S. K-12 public schools has reached nearly $8 billion”, the FCC and the Department of Education have encouraged the country to transition to interactive digital learning within the next five years (T-mobile helping to advance, 2012). There is no doubt that with the integration of tablets and the digital curriculum, apps, e-readers, and e-texts that will surely be paired along with them, will necessitate a shift of those textbook costs.

Pearson’s Common Core System of Courses comes preloaded with Pearson’s math and English language arts curriculum, apps such as iWork, iLife, and iTunes, and a variety of educational third-party apps (Bowman & Muller, 2013). With a complete math and English curriculum and additional built in resources, the need for textbooks is unnecessary. Students are able to access media and web resources related to the curriculum as well as engage in learning without difficult-to-plan trips to the library or the run down lab.

The ultimate costs of digital textbooks and curriculum, coupled with the resources of the world wide web brought to the classroom via tablets, will eventually make more sense than printing, binding, and delivering textbooks that are often instantly dated the moment they are printed.

“Although [digital textbooks] might be more expensive initially, the volume of sales should result in increased opportunity for lower unit costs. The logical result is more faculty demand, more publisher investment, and faster growth” (McFadden, 2012). Source:Why Digital Learning Is Here To Stay

What does this mean for schools? It means we’ll need to soon start equipping students with low-cost tablets or Chromebooks. My money is on Chromebooks, which come equipped with keyboards, are being supported by state-wide tutorial/assessment initiatives–in Texas at least with TexasSuccess.org–and offer the biggest bang for their buck.

This doesn’t mean iPads or Androids are out, only that a more strategic approach is needed…but the search for one device may be so much jabberwock. The rush is on, not to provide efficacious textbooks for students, but rather, to simply provide access to devices that allow access to digital textbooks.

Earlier this week, my son and I made our trek to Best Buy to get him an Acer C720 Chromebook, which should last until November, 2017. Although he’s played around with a wide range of devices, the one that’s not left his side except when he goes to school (sigh) is the Chromebook. It didn’t take him long to set it up the way he liked it, and I found myself wondering, Do I even need to show him anything?

After spending a month using nothing but a Chromebook ZDNet Contributing Author Ken Hess writes “… enjoyment comes in the form of no reboots due to constantly arriving patches, annoying freezes, or other anomalies. It comes in the form of a responsive and out-of-the-way user interface. There are just no hassles with a Chromebook …The Chromebook is easy to use. “

The answer, of course, is obvious one week later–No. Compare that to the issues we’ve both encountered adapting to iPad workflows. In fact, looking at a friend’s Samsung Galaxy Tab, I’m considering dumping my iPad 3rd generation (64gigs) for an Android tablet instead. After all, Explain Everything and Book Creator are now Android friendly!

Yet, I still find myself scouting and jotting down (via Evernote and Pocket) Chromebook tips for the uninitiated, which really, only describes my wife who finds her way on the Internet using an aged Acer Aspire One netbook (no trade-in value) running PeppermintOS.com GNU/Linux. It’s surprising how well she’s adapted to life on a Linux “box” and I keep wondering if maybe, just maybe, I could push her over to a Chromebook. Or, consider getting a Linux machine from System76 and ZaReason.

Either way, what are the essential Chromebook tips a newbie needs to know? Here are some I like to share with people and you may have your own list:

To insert Unicode characters, press + + U + The number for the unicode character.

To open a command prompt, press CTRL + ALT+ T. Once you are on the command prompt, type shell and hit enter to go to shell prompt.

Once you are in the command prompt (CTRL + ALT + T ) you can do SSH using the following format. sshusername computernameORipaddress. To view available SSH options, type ssh hit enter, and then hit enter one more time.

To view free space available on your Google Chromebook’s local drive (HDD or SSD) visit chrome://quota-internals/

Create a recovery media right from the Google Chromebook. You need a 4 GB or larger USB flash drive or SD card. This card needs to be wiped completely so make sure you don’t have any data on it. Open up chrome://imageburner and follow on screen instructions.

To view total amount of RAM, open chrome://system, find meminfo and click expand.

In less than a week, Microsoft Corp. will end support and updates for the 12-year-old Windows XP, and some state education systems are struggling with how to move forward.If a recent survey by the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) is any indication, this means the operating system of choice for more than half the schools in the state will become outdated.

Dennis Small, OSPI educational technology director, said last summer the office took a survey of schools in the state and determined more than 50 percent of districts still used Windows XP on their instructional computers.

Unfortunately, never is one of the best options available mentioned except in the comments section:

There is an alternative to spending a lot of money to upgrade XP machines or living with the ever-increasing security risk that XP is now: Linux. I have been upgrading the old machines at my school with Linux Mint and the students just keep on doing what they were before, administration is actually easier, and the school doesn’t need as many antivirus renewals to boot. Source: Comment on article

Why is GNU/Linux never the best option for schools? The reason is simple–we don’t like change. The kind of change represented by a switch to GNU/Linux, a fully mature free open source operating system that works great at home and in many businesses, is too great. GNU/Linux OS-based computers and devices may NEVER be the #1, preferred choice in schools because high stakes testing won’t work on it, people’s favorite drill-n-practice/tutorial software won’t work on it, and it’s too difficult to manage.

Yet, Google’s Chromebook–which comes in a variety of flavors, with my personal favorites being Dell Chromebook 11 and Toshiba Chromebook 13–runs a modified form of GNU/Linux, sells popularly and works great. Although there is a lot you can or can’t do on the Chromebook–check the Chromebook Compatibility chart–it’s clear that you can’t use it for high-stakes testing in Texas.

What makes it great for schools? An easy management console that you can buy for $30.

Kudos to Google for figuring that out. How long will it take the FOSS community to come up with a community-developed, web-based Linux Management Console?

I’d like to say it worked out for me, but when I walked in and put down a WinXP desktop (Dell Dimension 3000, one of a pair that I bought many years ago for my two kids), it was only good for recycling. Apparently, the deal only extends to Windows XP laptops, making me regret at least one act of generosity where I gave away an old gateway that was loaded with WinXP but reimaged with PCLinuxOS to a family friend. Ah, well.

1Valid 4/6/14–4/19/14. Valid in store only. Coupon redemption is good through 5/3/14. In store only when trading in a device. Get a minimum $25 Best Buy gift card guaranteed. Customer will also get a $75 discount coupon toward the purchase of a Windows computer, Apple computer or Chromebook. Excludes markdowns, clearance and open-box items. Not all products are eligible for trade-in. Not available in all locations and some stores may have additional limitations. Trade-in value may vary. Condition, documentation and accessories may affect value. Device must power on to be considered working. Water-damaged devices and devices with cracked screens are not considered working devices for purposes of this offer. Not compatible with other trade-in offers. Payment is by Best Buy gift card. You are responsible for removing any data from your product before providing the product for evaluation. You will be required to agree to the Terms & Conditions. The Best Buy Trade-In programs are intended for private, noncommercial use. No dealers. Limit of 3 trade-in transactions per person, per day. Best Buy reserves the right to refuse any trade-in or limit quantities for any reason. See a Customer Specialist for details.﻿

If you have an old WinXP laptop laying around, then I encourage you take advantage of the Best Buy offer and get….

Acer C720 Chromebook at $199 but after trade-in, $106-$109

Some more tips:

Wipe your hard drive on your laptop before taking it in. The easiest way is to grab a USB flash drive, put Darik’s Boot-n-Nuke (dban.org) on it, then select “autonuke” to wipe the data securely. If you don’t have DBAN, just a regular Linux distro, you can use thedd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/hda command in Terminal.

Move your data to an external USB drive or put it into Google Drive account.

After you have your new Chromebook, you might find these tips handy:

Need to keep track of your passwords? Consider using LastPass, a secure service.

The article cited above has some great takeaways regarding the use of Chromebooks, and GoogleApps for Education that are worth reflecting on. You’ll want to read the entire article, but here are my notes.

Source: http://goo.gl/JO3qsR

MyNotes

According to an estimate by Futuresource Consulting, Chromebooks accounted for almost 20 percent of the mobile computing market for K-12 schools in 2013.

Kentucky Country Day (KCD), an independent private school, has had a 1:1 laptop program for their high school students since 2005, but they recently began requiring the purchase of Chromebooks for their middle school students to use in the classroom.

Simultaneous to the Chromebook experiment was the school’s rollout of Google Apps, which the students use to create and share content and access their assignments.

Students were using their devices to create non-assigned projects like short stories and share them with their peers and instructors for feedback. The faculty quickly realized that the star of the show wasn’t the Chromebooks themselves, but the Google Apps suite they were all now using.

“What ever direction we took,” said Tim Rice, “the device was going to be our last consideration.”

Devices are enrolled under the KCD domain, then they use the Google apps management to break students into groups based on their grade level, control how much email access they have, blacklist websites and put filters on the computers.

Then they use Hapara to help organize the students Google Drive.

Once they settled on Chromebooks, the students adopted the technology organically. The school never mandated the use of Chromebooks in the classroom, or even explicitly encouraged their students to use them.

Classrooms with technology can still be teacher-centered or reflective of what Paulo Freire describes as the ‘banking method.’ We can use laptops for ‘drill and kill’ activities, or rote memorization, or for online test prep—or we can use laptops and associated apps as a medium for creativity, collaboration and critical thinking.”

“Chromebooks present a number of benefits to the education market which goes further than just offering cheaper hardware,” he said. “While cost savings can be made on the cost of the hardware alone, the majority of the cost savings originate from savings made from infrastructure and device management.

The use of Google Apps has increased transparency and led to fewer misunderstandings between parents and teachers over assignments and due dates. An added bonus for parents is that it’s harder for the students to lose their homework.

Tidy concepts are ideas that are expressed so well you can’t imagine adding to them, modifying them. You are left wondering, “Wow, that was so on target, i can’t say anything except, ‘Preach on, sister!'”

Image Source: http://goo.gl/09dLMH

Of course, nothing is that perfect. I like this kind of writing, especially when in the hands of revolutionaries because it makes it harder for others to oppose them. When ideas and words come together to be so irrefutable, you have to pause and ask, “Where are the seams to this construction of words and concepts?” How can I deconstruct these ideas and what does it mean for me?

The choice of a platform should be focused on learning objectives, students’ needs, and community values, filtering out the extraneous factions and marketing battles.

Selecting the right device for your school has everything to do with learning objectives and the tasks that students will do.

Ideally, discussions of those objectives as well as the students’ needs should be emphasized over the devices.

This seasonal view of devices (rather than “device as school identity”) is essential to helping schools move forward, meet their current students’ needs, and keep the curriculum relevant and timely for the future.

A focus on pedagogy and key technology skills will transfer from one device to another, making the shift easier; a focus on being a device expert, or mastering device specific mechanics, will not.

If educational technology and 1:1 education are going to thrive, school leaders must be focused on constantly employing the best practices and tools in relation to the most pressing needs of their students.

We don’t use Chromebooks in our district and I do not have access to one, so I hope you don’t mind me picking your brains a bit. I did Google search first, but am not finding info I need one way or another. I have a teacher for homebound students who has asked if there is a way she can use her personal Chromebook to show one of her students some videos from YouTube. The problem is, the student does not have internet access at her home. Is there a way to save or cache a YouTube video to a Chromebook for offline viewing? If you have directions or could point me to them, I would be most appreciative.

My response appears below…after you read it, I hope you’ll share how you do this?

Yes, you can save the video to your Chromebook’s local storage (16gig or 32gig depending on your model). Three possible approaches come to mind on how to do this, in no particular order:

You capture it on a regular computer using something like Keepvid.com or other YouTubeDownloader, then copy the video to a USB flash drive and then insert the USB flash drive into each Chromebook you want to copy the video to.

Once you have saved the video, share the video via Google Drive. This will enable the student/user to save the video themselves to their local Chromebook storage before they head home.

Teach the student to install the Chrome app, Video Downloader Professional. (I suspect you could also use Screencastify app.)Then, use that to save the video to your Video Downloader Professional playlist, then click the green arrow to save the video in one of several available formats:

MP4 – most compatible video format around

FLV – flash-based format

3g – for mobile devices

Some other options–you decide how well they work and match your situation–include the following:

Video Grabber – Wes Fryer recommends this one…seems to capture videos from web sites, but does NOT do YouTube.

Reassign apps as needed – When students transfer or change grades, schools shouldn’t lose the investments they’ve made in great apps. That’s why we’re adding the ability to reassign licenses for the educator-approved apps in Google Play for Education, starting on April 2. We’re also making it easier for schools to keep tablets clutter-free by uninstalling apps remotely, right from Google Play for Education.

Starting today, K-12 books are available to all schools using Google Play for Education. With a broad catalog ranging from classic literature to recent textbooks, it’s easy for teachers to get the right reading to each student.

Reviews from Google Play give a quick view into pros and cons, and new app details show the grades, subjects, and common core standards an app supports

Google Teacher Academy Dates Announced

2014 GTA Dates

The Google Teacher Academy (GTA) is a free professional development experience designed to help primary and secondary educators from around the globe get the most from innovative technologies. Each GTA is an intensive, two-day event during which participants get hands-on experience with Google tools, learn about innovative instructional strategies, receive resources to share with colleagues, and immerse themselves in a supportive community of educators making impact.

One of the questions that pops up is, “What instructional programs is the Chromebook compatible with?” While technologists may laugh at this question (it doesn’t run Java, is not based on Windows or Mac, really, what else do you need to know?), I know there are many less tech-savvy folks (e.g. instructional leaders, principals) who may have this question going around in their head.

While we may not agree with the instructional programs that may find their way into schools, my goal in crowd-sourcing this document is to get clear information on what works and what does not.

For those of you looking for reviews of Chromebooks, you may want to check out these documents:

Finally, if you would like to help update the chart embedded below, head over to this GoogleDoc. That doc features other tabs, including Chromebook compatible hardware, and Education-focused apps for Chromebook

When will the state education agencies (SEA) stop telling school districts what equipment to use for state assessments and tutorials, and instead, ask, “What equipment do school districts have and how can we run our assessments/tutorials on that?” It’s time for the tail to stop wagging the dog.

The SEA and/or whomever setups these contracts with assessment vendors needs to stop letting them tell us what hardware/software we need to support. Support HTML5, and you get iPads working. Eliminate Java, and it will work on both iPad and Chromebooks. Why aren’t these assessments and tutorial software able to just be web-based?

Or put another way, when will SEAs SEE (pun intended) the possibilities of encouraging high stakes assessment vendors like Pearson to create products that work on devices such as Linux laptops/desktops, Chromebooks, iPads, mobile phones, etc.?

The time for device agnostic state assessments has come!😉

Toshiba CB30-A3120 – This is a great Chromebook. I really like the zippy processor, beautiful keyboardreminiscent of a Macbook Air keyboard, trackpad, support for USB ethernet cable dongle or wireless, greatgraphics and video viewing.

As iPads and Chromebooks begin to find their way in Texas classrooms, the question that arises is,

The main reason for wanting to use these devices for assessments and tutorials is that they cost less than buying a desktop computer. For example, Chromebooks cost approximately <=$300 and, iPads, slightly more than that (view comparison chart). With the new versions of software, we might be able to escape the “tyranny of the lab,” focus more on creativity and collaboration in the classroom.Below, please find the responses resulting from information gleaned from conversations with colleagues in Texas.

TESTNAVThe answers reported from Pearson are as follows:

The current version of TestNAV that the Texas Education Agency uses (version 7) will NOT support the use of iPads and Chromebooks for assessments. From TEA: “TestNav 7 will not run on Chromebooks or Tablets. TestNav 8 does indeed have come with apps for these devices, but Texas will be on TestNav 7 for the 2014-2015 school year. The contract for testing is up in 2015, so will either have a new vendor and new software or will move to TestNav 8 if Pearson is selected.”

The latest version of TestNAV available (Version 8) DOES support iPads and Chromebooks. However, the Texas Education Agency’s contract with Pearson is only for TestNAV 7. Moving from the current version 7 to version 8 involves a variety of factors that TEA must take into account.

The main factors include the large bank of existing test questions and other content currently in version 7.

The current contract which licenses TestNAV 7 expires after 2014-2015

The earliest we would see Texas use TestNAV version 8 which supports iPads/Chromebooks is possibly 2015-2016.

iSTATIONIn regards to iStation, here are some dates:

The iStation iPad app will be released in September 2014;

The iStation Chromebook app will be released in January 2015.

TIMELINEYou can build this timeline using this information:

September 2014 – iStation for iPad

January 2015 – iStation for Chromebooks

2014-2015 – Contract expires for TestNAV 7

2015-2016 – TEA may possibly upgrade to TestNAV 8 and this version will support iPads and Chromebooks

“We’re thinking about getting Chromebooks for teachers,” a principal shared with me recently. Wow, how exciting, I thought…waiting for the next question.“Which Chromebook should we get?” he asked.

From Left to Right: Some Guy, Marguerite Lowak (@mlowak), Some Gal, Some Other Guy(Sorry to the rest of you)

When I spoke to my teammates, one of them, Marguerite Lowak (@mlowak) immediately started compiling information available and came up with the following Chromebook Comparison chart. What a thrill to see a great Chromebook Comparison like this…I immediately wanted to share the chart.

In a comment at Dangerously Irrelevant, a post written by Dr. Scott Mcleod, “The digital equity concerns of ‘good enough’, colleague Tim Holt asks this series of questions, challenging the assertion that 90% of tasks accomplished with a Chromebook is good enough. His questions are as follows, and they miss the point of what education is:

Would you want to use an MRI machine that provides 90% of a picture? That is good enough isn’t it?Would you go to a movie, pay full price, and expect to get only 90% of it?Imagine of you are on a plane and the instruments in the cockpit provided 90% of the information to the pilot. Would you feel safe?Name one coach that tells his team to go out and “give 90%!”Would you go to a surgeon if you knew his success rate was 90%?Would you get Lasik if you knew the success rate was 90% or that the Lasik laser in your eyeball would do 90% of the procedure?Would you buy a Big Mac if they left off 10% of the ingredients?

As I reflect on the ideas suggested by the questions, I feel an almost violent rejection of the idea that education is a “whole package” that can be bought. Yes, I know that our education system is arranged that way now because of economic and convenience reasons, but getting an education isn’t about digesting convenient packets of shoved down your throat learning. When we are children, we trust in our parents and adults and have an eager desire to please them. So, as a result, we do our best to learn. Eventually that becomes a habit (or not) and we “wise up.” We wise up and realize that education is a decision we make as learners, a joint effort by the agency that makes formal learning opportunities available, and the learners who choose to partake as humans endowed by their Creator with free will.

That’s why these questions don’t work for me. They paint education as a factory of parts that, when assembled, constitute an education. However, many of us continue to learn without all the parts. Abraham Lincoln taught himself law by reading law books. My grandfather, mayor of the small town of Santiago in the County of Veraguas in the Republic of Panama, at a time when there were no roads from Santiago to the capital city, Panama City, learned the law in the same way. Although there were gaps in his education–no formal schooling–he also read and defended the native population of Santiago in court.

“The leading rule for the lawyer, as for the man of every other calling, is diligence. Leave nothing for to-morrow which can be done to-day. Never let your correspondence fall behind. Whatever piece of business you have in hand, before stopping, do all the labor pertaining to it which can then be done.” Source: Abraham Lincoln on being a Lawyer

When we approach education as a commodity, a checklist of components like a box of furniture (“Can you build a desk if only 90% of the components are there?”), we limit the power of the human being to fill in the gaps, to imagine and learn.

Let’s ask, instead, different questions…when we do, we’ll find that the Chromebook, like the iPad, the laptops, the desktop, are simply the raw ingredients for powerful imaginations, that must be kindled with sparks of insight and learning that flow from the minds of those around us. You can’t ask a stick in a campfire to catch itself on fire, but you can a human being. A spark may trigger an inferno of destruction and melting heat, but a human mind…can touch the possible, make the impossible a reality, and dream.

Would you want an education that didn’t seize the raw materials around it and re-shape them, make them into something unimagined from simply looking at them?

Would you want an education that didn’t convert the least expensive products into resources that connect us to others?

Would you want technology that provides 90% and expects students to fill in the last 10%?

Or, better yet, what about technology that helps students achieve 90% with only 10% of fiscal resources?

Yes, the mind is the most powerful technology. Let’s not cheapen the experience of learning by comparing the aggregation of raw materials–including technologies to be used in school–as a list of 90%.

“Miguel,” one supervisor said to me many years ago, “what’s the best you can propose? Let me worry about figuring out how to fund it.” Even farther back, the incomparable Dr. Larry “My Soul Quivers” Anderson, looking like a white bearded prophet dressed in an immaculate suit, shared in a presentation to a packed room of educators in leadership positions, the story of a school district and a business. One of the best speakers I’d heard in my young career posed a captivating story about audacity and hope.

The school prepared a proposal and plan for new technology in their school. They had no hope of funding it themselves, Larry pointed out, proceeding ahead in spite of funding. But then a business stepped in. Instead of buying new computers for their organization, they bought the new equipment and shipped it to the school. They kept working on their existing machines, which still had a few years left in them. Astonishing! Inspiring.

Pointless leadership. If I had to define that oxymoron, it would be a needless debate about what’s the best technology argued on the merits of the technology and its cost. Rather than taking a deep inventory of our needs in the classroom, at the campus and district level, it’s easy for pundits to argue about the right technology. As Doug “Blue Skunk” Johnson points out in this blog entry, Tablet or laptop? it’s easy to get side-tracked:

A couple days ago, my friend Miguel Guhlin posted a matrix of popular personal computing devices on his Around the Corner blog. Thoughtful and comprehensive, my take-away from the comparison is that if you work at it, you can get about any device to do what you want it to do.While I don’t really want to fan the flames of what has come down to an iPad vs Chromebook* war among techno-enthusiasts, I’m starting to think that one’s preference may be a simple test of how one personally defines literacy.

Indeed, the highlighted point is exactly the point I hoped to make with the blog entry but failed to articulate it as succinctly as Doug’s put it above. A technologist worth their salt can easily make any technology tool as advanced as what we now have available, in a word, sing. In fact, I bet some folks can do much more within the boundaries of a particular device:

“The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings.” ― Wendell Berry

If we can set aside pointless debates about who’s selling Chromebooks over machines with different capabilities/functions, whether one technology is better than another (although we must clarify that tech and how it will be used), we can focus on the important stuff, such as George Couros’ quote that Stephen Ransom has so ably captured in this image:

A great quote (@gcouros) and well-illustrated (@ransomtech) !!

Make Donations via PayPal below:

Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

In a few weeks or months (gee, I hope I don’t procrastinate that long), I’ll have the opportunity to make more recommendations to schools. Those recommendations? Read on….

Image Source: http://goo.gl/iigBwI

Establish computer lab(s) at a ratio of 11 students to 1 computer in a lab. These should be the most durable, least expensive, longest-lasting desktop computers that will suffice for multimedia tutorial software and Pearson high stakes testing. Before you say it, yes, the world is changing but let’s stop pretending we don’t need desktop computers. Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s.

Provide classroom teachers with a desktop computer and an iPad, at minimum. And, only after consultation with teachers and checking the budget.

Determine the why first. Before buying anything for use with students in the classroom, ask yourself, what is the instructional purpose for that equipment? Map out intended uses.

Once you’ve mapped out what you hope to accomplish with equipment, then take hard look at the kinds of activities that most of us ask our students to engage in. Below is my list of activities and the “tools” (a.k.a. devices) and it would serve me well in these 3 situations:

Podcasting/vidcasting to share what students are learning and creating (all tools)

Over at Blue Skunk Blog, dear friend and colleague Doug Johnson points out the following:

I don’t always make popular decisions nor try to steer our district down the path of least resistance. Two moves which have drawn some heat this year have been:

Supplying classroom teachers with desktop computers (without a DVD drive) and a tablet instead of giving them the option of having a laptop.

Not installing Microsoft Office by default on any new computer and not upgrading Office to its latest version.

When I read Doug’s reasoning for these two reasons, I breathe a sigh of relief. Thank goodness, a part of me says, almost involuntarily, that’s my thinking, too. I can read the critique of a Microsoft Defender of Truth, reminiscent of recent advocacy against Chromebook and for iPads in schools:

GREAT Technology should be at the point of instruction and be as accessible in learning as a pencil…Not “adequate”, not “ok,” not “mediocre,” not “the cheapest we could buy,” not “good enough,” not “hand me down,” not “hobbled.”The Office Suite we provide students should be the best we can provide.

It’s kinda funny when you replace the debate over Chromebooks vs iPads with MS Office. But the truth is, we don’t need Microsoft’s flagging flagship product, MS Office, anymore. And, it’s silly to think we need to buy the most expensive equipment for classrooms when less expensive will get the job done.

It does not matter what we in the edtech field think about a new technology. What matters is what the end users think. We cannot force new technology on teachers; we must influence them into adopting it. – Gary Shattuck, Director of Technology, Newton County Schools, EdTech Leader (@edtechleader)

WHAT’S THE JOB?A key aspect of our role is to ensure a base, a foundation of technology that enables individuals to do their jobs, while providing learning experiences that help them transition from technophobes to educators who see how technology can be transformative and is no longer optional. But given the plethora of technologies available, let’s avoid the quagmire of one technology to rule them all.

“That emphasis on flexibility also extends to the various devices and platforms in use by districts, he [Lehmann] said. In SLA’s case, students are expected to do video production and other high-powered content creation that is not supported on the Chromebook; through its grant, Dell is paying for desktop and all-in-one stations to be used as supplements.”I am disappointed in Lehmann here, because it is clear he is pimping himself and his school out to Dell to be some kind of national advertisement for Dell Chromebooks.

While a low-cost Windows 7 desktop may not be the latest mobile device (e.g. iPad or Android tablet), it does provide teachers with what they need to complete administrative functions. The desktop computer acknowledges that we need “appliance-like” computers that get the job done at minimal cost…they are an appliance. They break down, you replace them. My favorite appliance story…I’ve bought clothes hot irons, paying up to $80. But then I noticed that the same brand and quality as found in hotel rooms I was staying at was available for $15…and did a better job than the $80 model. If I can get my writing done on a Chromebook for $279, why blow $1200 or more on a fancy laptop? If I want to do video editing, audio, why spend thousands of dollars when I can just get an iPad for about $500? It all depends on the job.The same goes for technology in classrooms…what is actually being done with the technology as opposed to what we imagine we can make others do with it?

Long term pilot programs and testing requires collaboration between school IT departments and classroom teachers, and constant contact…. –Scott Welch

Esteemed colleague Tim Holt, a director of instructional technology for a large urban school district, shares these points in his blog entry, Mythbusters: My iPad Can’t Do That:

Districts in the same state or schools in the same city might have differing needs. For instance, a school that is an Arts magnet school might have differing needs than say a technical school, or a traditional school. Grade levels have differing needs.They require a specific tool or tools that binds them to a specific technology. (How many RFP’s have gone out with the phrase “Must run Windows XP or later..?)They are not aligned to actual curriculum.They are not aligned to any kind of educational technology standard.

Is technology actually being used to support curriculum? Actually, the answer is “No.” In many cases it is not, and where it is, the list I came up with (further below) gets the job done.FLEXIBILITYDiffering needs demand flexibility, which aligns with Lehmann’s perspective. Schools do have differing needs and it’s foolish to try a “one size fits all” approach.

Some low end device like a Chromebook (formerly netbook, formerly thin clients, formerly OLPC laptop, formerly Linux/Unix refurbs, formerly whatever cheap ass piece of technology de jour was being thrust upon education…) is good for students because it provides XX% of the technology experience that the “real devices” does. This is especially true for students that have NO technology. Hey kid, be glad for what you get, because anything is better than nothing.

“Let’s buy the most expensive technology available for everyone since that’s will present infinite possibilities for teaching and learning!” (my fabricated quote, not Tim’s words). That quote sums up my perception of Tim’s arguments against Chromebook, netbooks, computers running GNU/Linux. In some ways, I’m reminded of this entry on “edtech solutionism,” that expensive hardware (e.g. iPads) can save teachers and students…no wonder edtech missionaries and die-hard converts evoke indifference in their audiences, their “flocks,” to the best technologies. We need a bit more reality. Must we make sinners of teachers–where sinning is less than exuberant technology use–before they can be saved (where saved is taught to use the myriad tech tools/apps/whatever)? EXPLORING THE 90% LIST OF ACTIVITIESTim Holt goes on to cite specific learning objectives…we should be using technology, for which Chromebooks are apparently worthless because he perceives them as inexpensive garbage (I wonder how a 3rd world country feels about that label). The implication is that the list I created to address the 90% ignores the points that Tim makes in this paragraph:

Word processing, creating spreadsheets, create original products, use proper graphic design, research topics, pick appropriate tools to do digital work, evaluate appropriate tools, create multimedia products, use a variety of digital tools to measure, explore and create, as well as of course use digital citizenship skills and basic computer skills, manipulate audio and video files, use models, simulations communicate results of data analysis, create collaborative work and more.

But if we align the main points of that paragraph above, you will find, as I did, that they align fairly well to my list of 10 items, and, in fact, exceed the specifics Tim alludes to:

“code” or program.

use a variety of digital tools to measure, explore and create

engage in desktop publishing.

use a variety of digital tools to measure, explore and create

create collaborative work

use GoogleApps for Education tools.** –

Word processing,

creating spreadsheets,

create original products,

pick appropriate tools to do digital work

use a variety of digital tools to measure, explore and create

basic computer skills

create collaborative work

engage in advanced image editing.

use proper graphic design

create collaborative work

do video recording, editing and remixing.

create multimedia products

use a variety of digital tools to measure, explore and create

basic computer skills, manipulate audio and video files

complete Pearson compatible state assessments*

complete drill-n-practice and/or tutorial programs like the TexasSuccess program activities (e.g. iStation, Think Through Math), as well as others like Scholastic Math and Reading Intervention Programs, Adobe Flash-heavy projects*, etc.

Provides on-board or easy access to cloud storage to facilitate saving and sharing with others.

create collaborative work

Tim points out that overlooked aspects of technology (e.g. iPad) include it’s ability to do more than one thing well. For example, I often counsel campuses to invest in an iPad because it can replace an audio/video recorder, as well as document camera. It does this quite easily and that makes it suited for the classroom environment. However, while it serves as a raw way to capture and process information, a device like a Chromebook provides more general usage that schools are often looking for.

Chromebook Challenge: I challenge Chromebook users to write the blog entry I want to but, I admit, I’m too tired to do right now–fill in the blanks with the apps for each of the items on the list above.

REDESIGNING SCHOOLS OR JUST WISHING WE COULD?While we might wish to redesign/reform schools, it’s worth considering the perspective that they must first be transformed PRIOR to investing in technology. By investing in technology that “doesn’t fit” schools today, we are simply throwing good money after bad. That’s why buying a workhorse desktop computer and an iPad for a classroom teacher works, while dropping any one technology–no matter how excellent–into a classroom can be potentially catastrophic without an environmental scan.Again, I must ask these questions prior to purchase:

Does the technology do what we–classroom (teacher+students), campus, and district stakeholders–need it to?

Once we’ve determined what technology is needed, what’s the least expensive equipment to get the job done?

Where will this equipment be placed?

Like Doug, I’d say, “The reality is that we have enough to do to without making change just for the sake of change.” Now, I am less interested in reforming classroom technology use and more interested in meeting the actual needs of people in classrooms.

How can I influence technology use in teaching and learning situations that that empower stakeholders?

As I consider the right question to consider, I still find myself reflecting on the critical importance of the following advice:

If you are in the position to make policies that impact educators, you better get into their classrooms, learn, and understand their world. — George Couros (@gcouros)January 4, 2014 (Source: A Closer View)

Again, I come back to different needs necessitate a variety of solutions. Tim’s perspective, as captured in a variety of blog entries, seem inflexible because they demand the best technology as determined by cost for schools. When I visit classrooms, chat with teachers, I don’t hear them clamoring for the most expensive. Rather, they are looking for technology that will make their reality a little less difficult.

Wouldn’t that be a combination?

No longer optional–technology that makes your life a little less difficult.

Here’s a tip…any technology that the end user didn’t choose makes their life more difficult, and lowers chances of adoption.

Make Donations via PayPal below:

Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

Imagine a school where students don’t learn programming.Imagine a school where no desktop publishing occurs.Imagine a school where advanced image editing is not taught.Imagine a school where video editing, manipulation, remixing has no place.Imagine a school where student digital products are limited to what an iPad can do. Imagine a school incapable of taking the STAAR or other test online.

I’m a fan of BYOD and a fairly enthusiastic iPad user, but I don’t want to lose the power of the desktop or laptop. We might go to portable labs if we can’t afford 1:1, but don’t take power computing out of the mix for students.

In that blog entry, I share a list of the uses technology might be put to in a classroom. I’d like to propose we clarify what “list” of activities we actually expect students to be engaged in using technology in the classroom. That way, we will know beyond a shadow of a doubt–within the scope of this conversation where that list will change as expectations do–whether a device can be used for “90%” or 100% of them.

If we adapt the list in my iPad blog entry, here are some of the activities–and I invite you to add more in the comments.

Aside: “”Apologetics” is derived from the Greek root word apologia. In ancient Greece it referred to a formal defense of a belief, an explanation or argument for one’s philosophy or religion. The word occurs several times in the New Testament, including sections of the Gospels, seeking to persuade unbelievers of the truth claims of the Church, especially the unique nature of the person and work of Jesus Christ.” (Source: IgnatiusInsight.com)This whole discussion of what’s the best tech for classrooms reminds me of apologetics.

WHAT’S THE TOTAL LIST OF ACTIVITIESThis list, obviously, doesn’t include everything students can do with computers. Rather, the list serves as a foundation from which a rich variety of activities may flow from, unfettered by a device’s technical constraints. The workflows certainly differ from device to device, but that’s OK.

Students must be able to…

“code” or program.

engage in desktop publishing.

use GoogleApps for Education tools.**

engage in advanced image editing.

do video recording, editing and remixing.

complete Pearson compatible state assessments*

complete drill-n-practice and/or tutorial programs like the TexasSuccess program activities (e.g. iStation, Think Through Math), as well as others like Scholastic Math and Reading Intervention Programs, Adobe Flash-heavy projects*, etc.

Provides on-board or easy access to cloud storage to facilitate saving and sharing with others.

Note: Items with a single asterisk * cannot currently be done on either the iPad OR Chromebook, making both of these devices unsuitable as computer lab replacements. Simply, we must continue to invest in computer labs until vendors like Pearson (and others) support assessments and HTML5. Items with a double asterisk ** are only partially workable on iPads. Also, districts that are GoogleApps for Education (GAFE) would certainly find Chromebooks and traditional devices to do much of what they want, if not all.

I don’t know about you, but if I had to score a technology–and really, of what use is that except to be cognizant of its potential in classrooms/labs–or device using the list of items above, it is clear to me that the following could be argued:

iPads would score 7 out of 10 possible points.

Chromebooks would score 8 out of 10 possible points, and I’d probably argue 8.5 points given that WeVideo app isn’t all that heavenly for video editing/remixing…

Linux-based laptops/desktops (not Chromebook) would score 9 out of 10 points (e.g. State assessment). For you Linux doubters:

OpenShot video editor is easy and awesome.

Google Hangouts works great

It shouldn’t be unexpected that these devices could also end up in teachers’ hands as their most frequently used device (FUD…(smile)). As a result, whatever device should also be able to handle the district’s gradebook program (e.g. TxGradebook, Gradespeed).

THE AWESOME EDUCATOR – NOT REALLY AT 90% USE“But most teachers or admins don’t even use 90% of the functionality of the technology they have access to,” I have heard budget-conscious leadership observe. “We end up buying this expensive device that gets obsolete so that the person carrying it around can have the ‘latest’ device.”

While we could add more criteria to this list, but to be frank, if I had a teacher taking advantage of at-a-distancecreation, communication, and collaboration now possible through ANY of these technologies, then that would be phenomenal.

And, I must also point out that these tools are actively evolving on iPads AND Chromebooks. Of course, these tools are already mature on traditional platforms like laptops, desktops.

IGNORING WORKFLOWSOne aspect that this blog entry does not consider is ease of workflows. Consider this perspective:

I teach in a 1:1 iPad classroom, and I asked to pilot 1:1 Chromebooks for the next school year.Truthfully, it wasn’t an easy choice to make. Secretly, I tried to squelch my nagging desire to do more with my students. After all, I loved teaching with iPads, and I’m proud of all the work, creativity, and fun that came out of using them. Besides, iPads are cool.But I had to be truthful. I had to be creative to use the iPad as a creation tool, and I had to find workarounds. And there were things my students just couldn’t do on them.

Some would argue that the workflow you must take to get something done–especially video-editing–is MORE important than the totality of what a device can do. For example, it’s easy as pie to record audio and process it on some devices, but not others. But “easy as pie” differs from device to device and the user’s definition. We can’t equate popularity of a device in schools (e.g. iPads) with ease of workflows. I’ve seen many iPads purchased that are discarded or used for only watching media.

As I’ve said before, I have no doubt I can make any device do what I want it to…but will other educators that are less technology-invested be willing to make the effort?

You know, they should be. Teaching and learning without technology is like trying to make empanadas without relying on picante sauce to engage the taste buds. You can get the crust right, the meat almost right, but…who cares?

What would be on YOUR list of 90%?

Make Donations via PayPal below:

Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

“If we’re not seeing what technology blended into curriculum & instruction,” shared a colleague one afternoon, “if it’s not integral to the success of a lesson or learning activity, then technology is just so much fluff.”“Well, if we must be fluff, then let’s be the best fluff out there!” I regret that this was not a fulfilling conversation for either party. When we talk of revolutionizing schools, reforming them, fundamentally transforming them, I’m left wondering what we’re really saying.

As I’ve transitioned from my role as a Director of Instructional Technology to Technology Operations, I feel less pressure to advocate the “edtech perspective” which is undervalued in schools today. Simply, who the heck wants to keep evangelizing a perspective that has made such poor inroads into Curriculum & Instruction Departments in schools? Now, my focus is less that of preacher and more of Maytag repairman with a good product to support…fortunately, no technology seems to be as reliable as the Maytag washer featured in commercials!

I’m often reminded of the plight of Instructional Technologists when I reflect on the work of C.S. Lewis, who cites G.K. Chesterton. I’ve adapted the original quote:

Instructional Technology has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.

I get a laugh every time. I also get a laugh when I read quotes about revolution (including my own):

Chromebooks are attractive for schools…but why? What’s the motivation for taking a hard look at Chromebooks?

“Humans respond to three motivations: moral, social and economic. The measure of character is which you respond to most.” – Joseph Grenny

Character may matter little to schools these days…choosing your technology because of cost makes sense. The problem is, most school leaders are NOT choosing cost. If that were the case, we’d all be using Linux and figure out a way to 1) Make management work; 2) Twist the arm of State Education Agencies and Pearson to support dominant technologies.

We’d forget about motivators like…

High stakes testing from Pearson that requires a proprietary operating system

More powerful than Chris Lehmann’s embrace of Chromebooks for SLA (Video | Article | Rebuttal) is this story Del Valle ISD English teacher shared…this is the motivation I can get behind, although cost is a powerful motivator:

Students raise money for new computers

Although I’ve discussedthis before, if cost is the primary motivator, then why not do a cost comparison? Sorry, Windows 7 on desktop computers wins for most versatile.

My criteria depend on the following, for which I am unapologetic:

Does the technology do what we need it to? If the need is for drill-n-practice, then it would be foolish to buy technology for PBL, multimedia creation, etc. After all, tech supports the dominant culture in schools. Unfortunately, mixing super advanced technology into the mix does not “transform” people. That takes crucial conversations and confrontations.

Once we’ve determined what technology is needed, what’s the least expensive equipment to get the job done? If we’re going to be putting kids on electronic tutorials, then why buy top of the line laptops that cost $1300? Let’s spend $620 (that’s an actual quote for Win7 machine, BTW) or less to get an i3, 4gigs RAM, 500gig hard drive desktop that will get it done.

Where will this equipment be placed? If placement is in a lab, then we should be buying desktops, not laptops, chromebooks and iPads that have to be managed in a cart (expensive). I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked into situations where equipment less durable than a desktop has been destroyed.

With these 3 bullets in mind, I see real value in setting up desktop computer labs because that’s what is needed now. However, in classrooms, we need more choices. And, iPads, Chromebooks, etc. all can fit into the classroom.

That’s why a mix of technologies in the classroom is helpful. For example:

2 iPads for document cameras, video editing, digital cameras

2-5 desktop computers for whatever

5 Chromebooks

Campuses must make these decisions on their own, decide what they need and what they intend to accomplish.

How would you go about helping teachers develop a classroom technology plan?

Make Donations via PayPal below:

Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

I’d like to use movie making in my hs history class. We use chromebooks often but have access to pc’s. The kids use sites for eportfolios. Do you have suggestions as to what tool will work best with sites and ideally chromebooks, too?

Lucie delaBruere responds by sharing these links about WeVideo, which is well-worth clicking through:

Share #3 – Audio Editing on ChromebookTwo main contenders I ran across in the Chrome Store for this, including TwistedWave. Imagine recording some audio via your browser or importing it from GoogleDrive. Aviary would have been my favorite pick but they are no longer around (sigh).

While reading my unautographed copy (yay!) of Doug Blue Skunk Johnson’s The IndispensableLibrarian, I found myself reflecting that any technology planning guide should include libraries. I confess that I’d left libraries out of my technology planning guide, not because I forgot them per se, but because, well, they weren’t my first priority. A mortal sin, I know.

One of Doug’s points in his book is that as we move online more, our “students’ homes become our library.” I suppose my favorite line from the first few pages of the book are:

When information is transmitted to a class instead of the class being transmitted to the library, where should the Virtual Librarian be working with students?

When I think of a library these days, I see a hybrid of virtual and physical resources and books vying for attention. Instead of rows of desktops, why not Chromebooks? These are less expensive, allow for easy replacement of obsolete boat anchors (e.g. OS X-X.6, WinXP computers) that use up tons of space and electricity.

Overall, the Chromebook does appear to meet its promise of easy use. 89% of patrons found the Chromebook reported that they were able to complete their tasks using the Chromebook.

Similarly, 90% of staff members also reported that they were able to complete their tasks using the Chromebook. Common praise of the device was the quickness of loading and the speed of the browser

…many staff members commented that their dissatisfaction with being unable to get ebooks from the library on the Chromebook. Patrons can in fact get ebooks from the library via the vendor Overdrive on a Chromebook using a free app called the Kindle Cloud Reader. To accomplish this task, the patron would need both their library card and an Amazon.com account.

Patrons were unequivocally in favor of the service: 97% said that this was a valuable service the library should provide

And what do all these machines do best? Run Google search, of course. Oh yes, and the free Google apps, such as its word processor.Thus, students will be surfing the Web and watching a lot of cat videos. Nobody will be hacking the machine to learn how to code. Nobody will be replacing hard disks.

Here’s my response…what about your’s?Yes, but this isn’t a bad thing. Schools can buy Chromebooks for use at school, as well as iPads, that don’t allow for real coding. That will meet the needs of many of our children, and, probably, all of our teachers.

For the coders, hackers and engineer wannabees, why not just get them Raspberry Pi at about $100 a crack with all the necessary cables, SD card, WiFi and these kids can take these things home under the 82nd Legislature (http://bit.ly/ecstem then click view proposal)? Get companies to donate old flat screen monitors and USB keyboards/mice (or get bluetooth). Then kids can code to their heart’s content, at school or home, learning Scratch, Python, C, all on the Raspberry Pi.

For school computing, testing and all that, they can use Chromebooks and iPads, both which will soon have Pearson’s app of some sort.﻿ If we want to mix a little equity into this discussion, consider the following scenarios:

Low socio-economic students who are perceived as needing remediation – In these environments, the focus will be on technology that facilitates tutoring and drill-n-practice. Solutions–web-based or software–will focus on digital tutorials. Since most digital tutorials have moved online, then it should come as no surprise that devices like Chromebooks (low-cost) will have a great appeal to schools. Poor schools, poor students, low-cost devices…seems like a match made in…well, you know.

High socio-economic students are perceived as needing challenges that will prepare them for a life of uncertain opportunities. Uncertain because they will call upon those children to collaborate, create, innovate in ways that are unimaginable. That’s why whatever the technology, it will require technologies that can keep pace with students. While they will also use the same tools the “lowies” use, they will also have access to enrichment activities far beyond that of their poverty-stricken counterparts. It is these students, who bored with a diet of easy technology, will want to experiment with Raspberry Pi technologies, strip wires with their teeth, dreaming of running a multi-million dollar company.

As stark as these two perspectives are, there is a third option. Everyone caught in between. Access to opportunities that foster engineering, science, technology and math will be offer haphazardly to these middle class students. It will all depend on how hard they push their children, their own backgrounds and discretionary income to have technologies accessible, as well as students having the motivation to do more than just consume content.

All of which brings me to Patrick J. Finn’s book,Literacy with an Attitude. The author makes a few points that there are different kinds of literacy. Yet, literacy is not seen as dangerous in the U.S. because we have two kinds.

First, there is empowering education, which leads to powerful literacy, the kind of literacy that leads to positions of power and authority. Second, there is domesticating education, which leads to functional literacy, literacy that makes a person productive and dependable, not troublesome.

This isn’t a new problem–that some kids will have access to programming, to making the computer do what they want it to do, while others in low socio-economic settings will do what the computer “tutors” them into. The problem has been around for many years.One of my favorite quotes about technology in schools with “poor students” appears immediately below:

“Economically disadvantaged students, who often use the computer for remediation and basic skills, learn to do what the computer tells them, while more affluent students, who use it to learn programming and tool applications, learn to tell the computer what to do. Those who cannot claim computers as their own tool for exploring the world never grasp the power of technology…They are controlled by technology as adults–just as drill-and-practice routines controlled them as students.”Source:Toward Digital Equity: Bridging the Divide in Education

The fight to encourage more learners to embrace tech as their own tool for exploring the world, rather than being controlled by technology, remains a vibrant one. Sound the alarms, marshal the troops, remember the battle must be fought every generation.